A rare find......82,000 original miles, always in Texas, we sold it a few years ago to a doctor in Tennessee, alas he passed away and now we are selling it for his widow. Essentially perfect rust free floors (nicely painted and detailed), excellent body and deep BRG paint, excellent original beige interior, new cloth top and full tonneau, tan boot cover, new chrome wire wheels, very good chrome and trim throughout, a very nice example.
Out of curiosity, we dropped the oil sump and found new standard rod and main bearings, new oil pump, who knew? The engine had just been rebuilt. And runs beautifully, 150 hp and so much torque that if you accidentally start (from a dead stop) in 3rd gear, you barely notice it. No smoke, excellent oil pressure, no appreciable oil leaks, and overdrive kicks in and out instantly.
Been driving it the past few weeks, quiet and incredibly smooth in a quick burst from 60 to over 100 mph, wonderful ride, strong refined performance. And the power disc brakes work well, steering is far lighter than you might expect (and we checked the front kingpins, tie rod ends, bushings and everything was nice and `tight`). Gearbox a bit noisy in 1st gear but works fine, overdrive clicks in and out perfectly has good synchromesh, and (anyway) I generally stay in 1st gear for about three second and shift into 2nd.
Has been converted to negative ground and fitted with a modern stereo/CD with USB input, new 3 point belts, wood dash is new (a big job to replace), has a fairly new stainless steel exhaust, original wiring harness is in excellent condition (see photo of original cotton covering), has a Mallory dual point distributor, a new oil cooler with braided steel Aeroquip lines, excellent synchromesh and the transmission works well.
What else? Starts instantly even on a cold morning, runs flawlessly, really doesn`t miss a beat. And in the showroom and available for immediate sale.
Best of all is the rugged simplicity of a `Big Healey.` Offering Jaguar like performance yet with a simple (but powerful) pushrod engine, solid back axle, wide availability of spare parts, and incredibly easy to service and maintain. And, of course, those beautiful lines that give the impression of leaping forward even when standing still.
All of these things and many more make a Big Healey, like this example, an excellent source of driving enjoyment with the capability of driving distances in utter comfort. (even a usable back seat for kids)
